VANCOUVER -- Contact tracing is underway after two incidents of possible COVID-19 exposure were reported at two Metro Vancouver secondary schools within the first few days of reopening their doors.
An email was sent to parents at Delta Secondary School, advising them that someone who was inside the school on Friday, Sept. 11 tested positive for the disease.
It’s not known if that person is a student or an employee.
The letter from Fraser Health advises families that anyone found to be a close contact will be phoned by public health officials and will be advised to self-isolate for two weeks. Some others will be asked to self-monitor for symptoms. Those people will receive a letter from public health and will be able to continue attending school or work.
The school district is urging those contacted by Fraser Health to follow the advice carefully. All other staff and students who don’t receive a phone call or a letter from can continue to attend school as usual.
“I didn’t really sleep last night. Just a lot of anxiety,” said parent Carley Albertson, whose daughter is in Grade 9.
Her daughter was not at the school on the day the exposure happened, but she says she has been left feeling uneasy about the return to class.
“It’s scary, it’s really scary, I’ve got four others kids at home to think about, my husband, myself,” Albertson said.
Fraser Health is also doing contact tracing at Johnston Heights Secondary after what Surrey Supt. Jordan Tinney described as a “low risk COVID contact” at the school.
A letter to parents indicates the person was inside Johnston Heights between Sept. 8 and Sept. 11.
“Please note that this individual did not have contact with students on the date of this possible exposure,” the letter said.
In a video posted online Tinney also explained why, unlike the spring when there were a couple confirmed cases in Surrey, schools are remaining open even after possible exposure.
“In each one of those cases there was a confirmation of a positive case, and we shut the school and closed the school, deep cleaning for a day,” Tinney explained. “Fast forward to the fall, things are much different. First and foremost, our cleaning protocols are vastly different than they were in the spring, and that impacts things a lot.”
Tinney also noted that, with the help of contact tracers, people exposed to COVID-19 are now monitored after being asked to go into self-isolation.
